Already thought about the water drop. The scrubber comes with down pipes to make the transition not so bad. And if push comes to shove, I can always place a filter sock on the end of the down pipes. I'm hoping it won't be much more of an issue than that. I'll definetly keep you all informed how it works out.. IMO as far as "pre-made" Algea scrubbers go, Not DIY units. Floyd R Turbo and Santa Monica have got to be the best. And really the only 2 players competing with each other with slightly differnet styles. The ATS that I bought, Floyd R Turbo calls the L2. Its the latest revison.( I think 4th). There was something like a 6 month wait period and diffently wasn't cheap.. ( cheap, as in what a DIY unit would cost.) I preferred Buds (floyd R turbo) L2 unit, and I can respect what he's doing. He's just a hobbyist like all of us, and builds these things in his spare time. Weather its for profit or not, It's still nice that he's willing to share his units with others. just my .02

One thing I don't get with ATS is, may be I'm over simplifying thing, the more plants you have to start out with, the more growth you would get under the same condition, right? So ATS being able to house such limited amount of algae comparing to a fuge would result in less growth given the same amount of light?

One thing I don't get with ATS is, may be I'm over simplifying thing, the more plants you have to start out with, the more growth you would get under the same condition, right? So ATS being able to house such limited amount of algae comparing to a fuge would result in less growth given the same amount of light?

Curious how this thing work out. Do update!

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You get amazing algae growth on ATS screens.
The high intensity red-ish lights, plus great flow and turbulence = very fast algae growth.
Basically, conditions are not the same as a fuge, they are much better.
And that is a big part of the point - the conditions are very favorable to grow algae there, so it out-competes algae in your main tank.
If you put a ball of chaeto in a sump next to a good ATS, that chaeto will quickly die.